The massive new update 1.5 for the beloved simulation of the agricultural city Stardew Valley was released this week. I already talked about it on Wednesday, but I’ve played for several hours, so I’ll tell you more because, damn, it’s so good. It is worth starting a new rescue file for the new beach farm, as well as all other new changes in quality of life.
I always thought that Stardew Valley’s annual updates are very good at introducing changes that make the game better without messing with everything you know about it. I never started Stardew after a major update and I felt lost and confused. This is how it is with the 1.5 update. The map of the farm on the beach is fresh and new, but it won’t completely change the routine you’re familiar with.
Here’s a look at everything and, in fact, wait. I just saw the cave entrance in the bottom left corner. I don’t know if that leads anywhere, but I’m adding it to my list of things to investigate.
The beach is a beautiful change of scenery, but be warned that sprinklers cannot be placed on the sand. This means that, since you are looking to automate the operation of your farm, you will need to hurry to unlock the greenhouse or clean that single piece of land that is covered with large logs. Otherwise, it is you and your best friend who can water forever.
If you Does want to shake up your usual Stardew formula a little more, don’t miss the Advanced Game Options on the wrench button when starting a new saved file. Remixing the ingredients needed to complete Community Center packages is a worthwhile change. I’m sure I can’t be the only person who can recite the items needed for the spring foraging package and the spring harvest package.
There are all kinds of interesting little changes to discover if you are looking for them. Hidden in the options menu, for example, is the option to change the audible alert when a fish is caught on the hook. I’m so conditioned to the standard noise that I couldn’t have any of the new options, but hey, they’re cute.
The biggest and best part of the new update is the one that ConcernedApe chose not to spoil in the announcement of Wednesday’s update 1.5, which I’m also sure not to do. If you would like to speed your way to the coolest (and hottest) part of update 1.5, make sure to load one of your salvages that has a few years in it and go check out that new door at Willy’s store that was triggered earlier this year.
Also in the update announcement, ConcernedApe closed with “Next year, there will be more announcements related to the Valley of the Stars (and possibly beyond …).” He also said earlier that a Stardew Valley 2 is not out of the question, and that he would not be surprised if he ended up making more updates on Stardew itself. No matter what comes next year, there’s a lot more Stardew to chew on right now.